Novak Djokovic refuses to break unique Wimbledon tradition after beating Tiafoe

Novak Djokovic gave a straight-faced response to a request to repeat his Wimbledon tradition of eating the grass after his win over Frances Tiafoe at the Hurlingham Club on Thursday. Djokovic has regularly forgone playing in any warm-up grass events before Wimbledon and its worked wonders for him in recent years.

The 36-year-old has not lost a match at the British Grand Slam since 2017 having won the last four tournaments held. He’s once again the favourite heading into next week and made his return to the court earlier in the day on Centre Court.

The All England Club broke with tradition last year to allow limited pre-tournament practice on both Centre and No 1 Courts. Wimbledon explained it was a move to try and prevent more slips and injuries in the early rounds of the tournament due to the surface not being broken in.

But Djokovic doesn’t seem to be a huge fan of the tradition being abandoned as he admitted it was still a “little strange” to be practicing on Centre Court before the tournament. Not long after Djokovic returned to the Wimbledon courts, Djokovic was back in action for his first match since winning the French Open earlier this month.

The Serbian tennis superstar gave the fans in attendance at the Hurlingham Club plenty of entertainment throughout the match as it went to a Championship tie-break decider. Djokovic eventually rounded out the victory 6-3 3-6 10-7 and received a standing ovation from the crowd.

After his match, Djokovic was then asked whether he would eat the grass from the Hurlingham Club court. But Djokovic baulked at the request, laughingly responding: “I only eat Wimbledon grass.”

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The 23-time Grand Slam champion first had a taste of the historic turf back in 2011 when he defeated Rafael Nadal in a thrilling contest. He collapsed to the floor after the winning point and shocked fans when he picked up some grass and ate it.

Explaining his actions, Djokovic said years ago: “I didn’t know what to do from the emotions that I had at that moment. It was an incredible feeling so the tasting of the grass came spontaneously. It tasted really good!”

It’s now become a regular theme of every Wimbledon triumph Djokovic has had in his career as he bids for a record eighth title from next week.

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